The experts told how to behave in this situation and whether to expect compensation for additional expenses.
Representatives of the travel retail asked the question: “What should I do if a child gets chickenpox during a trip?”. Are tourists in danger of quarantine, will their expenses for additional days of stay be covered in this case, at whose expense will the air tickets be changed? And will they be allowed on board if they decide not to inform anyone about the disease and just fly to Russia on the appointed date?
Experts told Profi.Travel, how to behave to tourists in such a situation and why it is not worth hiding the disease, trying to quickly return home or, conversely, go on vacation if the disease became known before the start of the trip.
As explained by Yulia Alcheeva, director of the branch of the insurance company Euroins Travel Insurance, chickenpox can indeed be quarantined. However, the final decision in each case is made by the doctor. “According to our rules, in such a situation, the payment of new tickets to the child and the accompanying person is compensated, as well as 300 conventional units for accommodation during quarantine (for each policy),” the expert explained.
“If the disease is severe, the patient is hospitalized. He will also not be allowed on board the aircraft in case of signs of illness,” explained Irina Guseva, Deputy Head of the Claims Settlement Department for Personal and property insurance of Ingosstrakh.
However, as told anonymously by Profi.Travel employee of one of the airlines, there is no reason to refuse transportation to a person even with signs of chickenpox. On the one hand, if a passenger is contagious to others, he may be banned from flying. And diseases such as chickenpox, rubella, measles in the active phase of a person can be transmitted to dozens of passengers. On the other hand, according to the interlocutor, the airline staff cannot determine whether the child has chickenpox or not.
Each carrier may have its own policy on admission on board. Yes, there is a possibility that they will require a certificate that the passenger is no longer contagious in case of suspicion. But if the signs of the disease are not visible: they are not present or disguised, they will be allowed on board.
Svetlana Oboyanskaya, the head of the NOTA agency Association, a doctor by education, recalled that chickenpox is an extremely contagious disease that can be hard to tolerate by adults. And she complained that many tourists treat it much more calmly than the coronavirus: they do not inform doctors if a child falls ill on vacation, so as not to be quarantined, and do not refuse tours if signs of the disease appear before the start of the trip.
“But the consequences can be disastrous not only for parents who are taking a sick child home, but also for other passengers. For example, if a pregnant woman becomes infected, this can lead to fetal pathology,” the expert explained.
According to her, in case of infection with chickenpox, tourists must undergo full quarantine. And in order not to worry about compensation, she advised buying insurance policies that include an expanded list of risks.
“My client’s child got sick before the New Year’s tour. The tourist was wondering whether to fly or not, now there are ointments that can mask the signs of chickenpox. I explained to her that the disease is contagious for 10 days, the second child may get sick, complications may occur. In the end, she still refused to tour. Thanks to the travel insurance policy, the funds were returned to her,” Svetlana Oboyanskaya said.
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